Developing-frame for photographic films.



E.-B. HANSBURY. DEVELOPING FRAME FOR PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS. APPLIGATION FILED MAR. 25, 1909.

917,940. Patented Apr. 13, 1909.

1 N TED STATES PATENT osmos- EDWABDMB'HANS'BURY, OF New YORK, N. Y.

DEVELOPING-FRAME son rno'roenarmc mm- It all whom ma concern:

vented certainnew and useful Im rovements in Developi Frames for P otographic Films, of wh i h tion.-

My invention relates to means for develo ing photo raphic films of different kinds, sizes, lengt and styles, the object beingto provides frame for? supporting the films in the developing liquid in such a manner that they can be thoroughly and effectively treated without coming into contact with each other, or with the tank, or with anything which might'scratch, mar, or injure them, so

' that'they'are thus developedina much more go perfect'state than has heretofore been posnow in'com non use. The invention, therefore, consists essentiallyin a frame for supporting the films; in means for attaching the films to the frame at top and bottom, and in adjusting the frame to films of di'fi'e'rent len ths;"and also it consistsin numerous deta' s and peculiaritiesin the construction arrangement and'combina- 3 tion ofpar'ts, substantially as will be'hereinafter described and claimed.

' In the accompanying my invention, Figure 1 is a sectional view of a tank with a removable film-supporting 'frame, shown operative position within said tank, the frame bein shown inside elevation. Fig. 2 is a top p an view showing a couple .of, frames in position in the tank. I Fig. 3 is a cross; 56013011 of the frame and illustrates one formot spring catch for holdin% the film. I V

imilarcharacters of reference designate -corresponding parts throughout all the different figures, of the drawings. I

1 denotes a tank like that ordinarily used for containing developing chemicals in which photographicfilms may be immersed for a greater or less time for develo ing pictures thereon-.3 This tank, which have illustrated in the drawings, is givensimply by way of. example and as a single specimen. Its size, shape andmaterial may vary widely. Ordinarily the tank as commonly used at the presentftime has a plain inside surface, and one of the oints of my invention consists in providing t e interior of the tank with guides ese guides are susceptible 0 m a great variety of ways.

the following is I a specifica-' sible with the other forms of developing tanks 'films is clearly illustrated in side e drawings "illustrat being built In that 'form which I have selected for illustration, the end parts ]0f the tank are plemental pieces 2 secured thereto in some provided with sup- Specification of Letterslatenta saw-eta April is,'ieoe.' fl .I Application filed amen as, 1900. saw No. 433,160, a

1 to receive and hold the develo ing frames.

Bert known t at I, EDWARD B. HANS-' Th BOLY, a-citizen of the United States of Amer-- ica, and a resident of the borough of -Brook- 5 lyn, city and State of New York, have insuitable manner, said pieces being formed with a series of parallel grooves 3 which are preferably curved orconcave,'and which'are suitable to receive the developing frames c'ar-.- These guiding grooves 3, in"

rying the films. t e specimen I am explaining, are preferably vertical in order that the developing frames may; remain in a vertical position while in the tan There may obviously be any number of the guiding grooves 3. In the view in Fig.

1, the tank is indicated as broken inhalfat i one point to show that there are more "than merely th ifour guide grooves indicated, and in said figure I have shown two, frames occu- PY PE wine are vacant; but, of course, as already stated, there may be as many uides as desired to accommodate the number of frames" which it is desired to employ.

The developing frame which supports the Fig. 1, in tp p plan view in Fig. 2, and in cross section 111 1g. 3. The general shape thereof is preferably rectangular, and -it consists of twoof the grooves, andtwo grooves evation in i the horizontal u per rail 4', the horizontal" lower rail 5, an the two vertical rails '6, which connect horizontal rails 4 and 5, there being some suitable'unions or couplings 7 at the corners to unite theparts- These rails 4,

5 and 6 ma consist of sections of piping or Q tubing, an the corner couplings 7 may be internally screw-threaded to receive the ends of the pipes; but while this is 'a preferable construction, I am not limited thereto, and

the rails may be solid, if desired, and, the means for fastening them together at the corners may vary widely. Since the tubing and the rounds ape of the couplings 7 are thought more desirable, the shape of the guiding grooves 3 is made'curved or concave to correspond. O iposite to the up er horizontal rail 4 and between it and t e lower horizontal rail 5, being usually nearer to the latter, is another horizontal rail '8, having sockets 9, 9, at .the ends which engage the vertical rails 6, surrounding the latter partly or wholly and being: vertically adjustable thereon .by hand, this horizontal rail conse uently ad'ustable toward and away from t e upper orizontal rail 4. The ver tical rails 6 are provided with series of perforations 10, and the end sockets Qhrcals'i.) perforated at 11. Pins 12 pass through the perforations 11 and perforations -1O, and't'here bein a series of the latter, it is possible to regulate the height of the rail 8 as may be desired, and adjust it closer to orfarther away from the top rail 4, and hold it in any desired position of adjustment, the object of so adto usting the rail 8 being to accommodate films of different lengths between them. The top rail and the'movable rail are provided with a suitable number of clas s, clamps, or some other suitable'fastening e-. vice which will hold the films.

13 designates an example of film held between a fastener on the rail 4, andanother fastener on the rail 8, as illustrated in ig. 1. One form of fastener, which I have illustrated is shown in e sists of a spring clasp comprising two interpivoted members 14 and 15 between which is a spring 16 for normally forcing the ends 17 of the clasptward each other, one member of said clasp ,-.J as, ,1.5,;,being longer than the other and being secured .to 'thQ-IaiP IQ OI the rail 8, asthe case may be by suitable rivets or other fastening means 18.= A clasp like this will tightly grip, between theyends 17 of the members 14 and 15, the film as shown in Fig. 1. In order to enable the frame to hold as many films as possible, I find it convenient to provide the rail 4 and also the rail 8 with two series of clasps, one on each side, as shown in Fig. 3. Two series of films can in thiswaybe stretched between the rail 4 and the rail 8 without coming in contact with each other, and they will be held ida proper position to be effectively acted upon by the chemicals'in which they are subn'ifgrged.

The retaining pins 12 may be used or-not as preferred. Oftentimes they will not be needed, for generally the weight offthe lower rail 8 will be sufficient to hold "the films properly in place. It will also be noted that the lower rail 8, or the upper rail 4, may be divested of clasps, only one rail in this case being provided with. them, so. that a film which re of unusual length may be carried around over the other rail and held fastened I by the clasps on only one of the rails. .In this case, as stated, it is better to have the clasps omitted from the rail around which 5-5 the film passes, in order that there may be no projecting pins to scratch and mar the delicate'surface of the negative.

Obviously, the frames may be built for use with short or long films, and hence any particular frame will not require any great amount of adjustment, and for fijlms of unusual length the'frame will be built as just suggested with one of the rails, the top one, or the lower oiie unprovided with clas s. The frame isfurthermore furnished at sic in the drawiggs merely by way of example,

arged detail in I ig. 3, and contop with a suitable number 'of'hooks, eyes, or other projecting devices 19,.by means of which ihe frame can be suspended when it is not in the tank.

According to the common process of developing films, they are first placed in a bath of suitable developing chemicals and kept there for, sa twenty minutes; then transferred from tiat to another bath of hyposulfite of soda, in which they remain a suitable length of time, say, twenty minutes, and then are transferred into a tank containing water, where they are left for a suitable time, say, half an hour. One of these tanks may be provided with guides similar to the guiding grooves 3 to receive and keep in place the film-supporting frames, and said frames will be transferred from one tank to the other as fast as the operation requires. When the frame is in the tank, the unions or couplings 7 at the corners serve as feet on which the frame rests; but in lieu of having two feet thus at the ends of the frame, it may sometimes be found sufficient to'have one near the.

center of thelower rail 5, as I have indicated at 20 in Fig. 1. This is simply suggested as a convenient device.

It sometimes hap ens that the chemicals used in developing tr e films will not be abso' lutely homogeneous at all'times throughout the tank, because that nearer the bottom may become heavier through a settlin action that may occur, and consequently 1t maybe found advisable to agitate the con tents of the tank at certain times for the purpose of securing a uniform and homogeneous quality of the chemical contents throughout.

in order to do this most efficiently, I provide and the contents thereof agitated sufficiently to secure entire uniformity, and thus the ac tion on the films immersed in said contents will be exactly the same on every part and the proper developing result will be attained without any difficulty.

Many changes in the precise details of 'construction and combination may be made without going outside of the legitimate scope of the'invention, and I reserve the liberty of making all such changes as may be found desirable and essential in the practical application of my improvements.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new'and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is: i g

1. A developing frame for photograph c films, consisting in the combination with a rectangular frame having arallel uprights and parallel connections t erefor, between which latter parallel connections the films are adapted to be supported, of means for fastening the films to said parallel connections so that a series of them ma be properly supported for immersion in tie bath.

2. A film-supporting frame, consisting essentially of a rectangular frame having vertical uprights at the ends and horizontal bars connectmg them, an intermediate movable rail between the top and bottom of the frame and adjustable up anddownon the-u rights, a series of fasteners on the top rail of the frame, and a series of fasteners on the movable rail, all arranged so that a series of films may be supported by means of the fasteners in the frame.

- 3. The combination with a developing tank having guiding means therein, of one or more developing frames for supporting photographic films and removably placed within the guiding means of the tank, each of said frames consisting of a rectangular frame and a movable intermediate rail, said rail and the top bar of the rectangular frame being provided with clasps for grasping the films be tween them.

4, The combination in a frame of the class described, of a rectangular structure having a top rail provided with a series of clasps thereon, and a lower rail likewise provided with a series of clasps, vertical side u rights supporting said rails, all arranged so tliat between the upper and lower rails the films may be carried by means of the clasps.

5. Ina frame for developing photographic films, side uprights, upper and lower horizon- I tal connections between them, a movable rail intermediate between the to and bottom rails, and fastening means on t ie top'rail and on the movable rail for holding-a series of films, together with means for securing the movable rail at any desired point in its vertical adjustment.

Signed at New York city, this 20th day of March, 1908.

EDWARD B. HANSBURY. Witnesses: r

JOHN H. HAzELToN,. (1B. SCHROEDER. 

